Controlling mechanism for stemming machines



Nov. 5, 1935. v P. M. NEJEDLY CONTROLLING MECHANISM FOR STEMMING MACHINES Fil edoctxl'f, 1954 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 P. M. NEJED LY CONTROLLING MECH ANISMFOR STEMMING MACHINES Nov. 5, 1935.

[3 Sheets-Sheet '2 Filed Oct. 17, 1934' Will i I ATTORNEY Nov. 5, 1935. NEJEDLY 2,019,721

CONTROLLING MECHANISM FOR STEMMING MACHINES Filed Oct. 17, 1954 s Sheets-Sheet 3 R IN VENTO Patented Nov. '5, 1935 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICIE oon'momivo MECHANISM roa STEM- MING MACHINES Application October 17, 1934', Serial No. 748,757

16 @iaims.

This invention relates to an improvement in, tobacco stemming machines, and more particularly to controlling mechanism for causing the separation of the unstemmed or incompletely stemmed leaves from the stemmed leaves in the machine.

' In operating tobacco stemming machines it often happens that a leaf will slip by unstemmed,

and, if not detected and removed by the attendant, it would be gathered in with the leaves which have been properly stemmed. Since none of the prior stemming machines are provided with means for automatically picking out the unstemmed leaves, a great deal of annoyance is thus caused after the stemmedmaterial has been put into use in cigar machinesor other tobacco manufactures where the presence of coarse stems is objectionable. Accordingly, the main object of this invention is to detect and separate the unstemmed leaves from the stemmed leaves in tobacco stemming machines.

The present invention overcomes this difliculty by preventing an improperly stemmed or unstemmed leaf from being deposited with the leaves which have passed satisfactorily through the stemming operation, by carrying it along and depositing it in a trough from which the collected leaves may be returned and run through the machine a second time. For this purpose there is provided a device which detects the unstemmed leaf and controls its destination, consisting of a roller which is held in contact with'the leaf as it travels from the stemming unit to thedelivery apron. This roller is suspended in 'one arm of electric contact.

When a completely stemmed leaf passes under the roller it does notraise the roller sufficiently leaves are normally deposited, and deliver it in I the trough provided to receive the unstemmed leaves. I

. With these and other objects not specifically mentioned in view, the invention consists in certain constructions and combinations hereinafter fully described and then specifically set forth in the appended claims.

Referring to the drawings which form a part a bell-crank, the other arm of which closes an of this specification and in which like characters of reference indicate the same or like parts:

' Fig. 1 is a schematic plan view of the conveyor mechanism which delivers the stemmed leaves from the stripping mechanism of the stemming a. machine, showing leaves emerging from the stripping mechanism and being transferred to their destination, and the device for detecting unstemmed leaves;

Fig. 2 is a sectional elevation of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a detail view on an enlarged scale of a portion of the conveyor mechanism shown in Fig. 2, illustrating the operation of the detector;

Fig. 4 is a detail view showing the position of the control mechanism linkage for maintaining 15 full suction on the suction conveyor when an unstemmed leaf is being transported;

Fig. 5 is a view showing setting of expeller operating gear, when about to function;

Fig. 6 is a side elevation combining views shown 20 inFigs.3and5; a

Fig. '7 is a plan view of part of Fig. 6 and Fig. 8 is a wiring diagram showing the electric circuit between the detector roller and the solenoid, which sets the control mechanism into 25 operation.

The control mechanism is illustrated in Figs.

1 and 2 in conjunction with a stemming machine of the general type shown in the co-pendin'g application of R. ErRundell et al.,-Serial Num- 8 her 677,336, filed June 23, 1933, and now'Patent No. 1,981,470, dated Nov. 20, 1934, and its construction is as follows: The detector roller ll mounted in one end of a bell crank i2 rests on the traveling belt conveyor E3 of thelstemming 35 \machine. The upper end of bell crank i2 is provided with a stop-screw arranged to actuate a contact maker id of the electric circuit of a solenoid i5 and a tension spring is connected to lugs on the hubs of the 'bell crank and contact 'maker l4, wherebythe latter is normally held in open position and the roller H is lightly pressed against the belt l3. The wiring diagram of the solenoid circuit and the operation of the solenoid are illustrated in Fig. 8 and will be described I later.

Core iii of solenoid I5 is connected through link Y ll with a bell-crank lever [8 provided on its upper end with, an arcuate head l8a, as shown in Figs. 3, 4, and 6. In the web of gear wheel It 50 are slidably'mounted a number of pins 20. A three-arm lever 2| fulcrumed on rod 22 has on arm 2la a roller 23 which rests on a cam 24 on drive shaft 25 driven from the main, drive of the stemming machine. The arm 2"; is linked l5.

through rod 25 with a crank 21 on shaft 25. On the upper endof shaft 28 is fastened a disc valve 29 and a crank 30 which is connected through link 3| and crank 32 with a butterfly valve 33 in the suction duct 34. A third arm 2|c of lever 2| extends downward and has a curved shoe 2|d adjacent the path of the pins 2|! in the gear I3.

During one revolution of shaft 25 the gear 35 thereon turns the gear |9 one third of a revolution, and over the sprocket 36 on shaft 25 runs a chain 31, Fig. 2, which rotates sprocket 33 on transfer conveyor drive shaft 4| two revolutions, for every revolution of shaft 25. As the gear 40 on shaft 4| meshes with a gear 42 of the same diameter on the suction conveyor drive shaft 43, the twoconveyors l3 and, travel at the' vstemming unit of the stemming machine. .The.

transfer conveyor I3 is an ordinary endless belt but the suction conveyor belt 44 has several rows of perforations 44a, aligned with longitudinal I slots 45a in the bottom wall 45 of suction chambers 46a and 45b. Suction conduit 34 communicates with the chambersl48a and 46b through apertures 46c and 46d in the rear walls of the chambers 46a and 46b, respectively.

In Figs. 1 and 2, the leaves La, Lb, L and Id are shown in progressive stages as they emerge from the stemming unit of the stemming machine and are advanced on the transfer conveyor I3 and the suction conveyor 44. Leaf La is shown about half way through the stemming operation; leaf Lb on the transfer belt I3 is passing under the detector roller ll of the controlling mechanism; leaf Lc is held on the lower run of the suction conveyor 44, the suction in box 4617 having just been turned off so that leaf Lc is ready to be dropped and carried away on the delivery apron or transverse conveyor TC. At the end of the suction conveyor 44 is shown the leaf Ld, which has passed through the stemming unit without being stemmed and, due to the controlling mechanism, has been carried past the transverse con veyor TC without being dropped, and in position to be deposited in the trough T.

As the leaf Lb, Figs. 1, 2, and 3, passes under the detector roller H of the controlling mechanism, the roller will rise only slightly if the stem of the leaf has been removed, and the solenoid circuit will remain open. While the leaf is ad- 1 Lb is carried beyond the suction chamber 451,

opened, thus compressing the air in the bottom of the chamber and forcing it through the perforated bottom wall of the chamber and corresponding perforations in the conveyor belt against the leaves to remove them.

The plate 41 with its operating connections may be termed as expeller".

The plate 41 is suspended from levers 48 on shafts 43 carrying cranks 50 connected by a link and operated by a cam 52, Figs. 2 and 5, 5

through the cam follower 53' on the lever 54 loose on shaft 22 and connected by a rod 55 to a bell-crank lever 55 pivoted to link 5|. A spring 51 acting on bellcrank56 assures the drop of the plate 41 as roller 53 runs ofi the high point on the cam 52.

If, as indicated by the dotted position of the detector roller in Fig. 3, the stem or any part of it exceeds the maximum allowable thickness to which detector roller II is set, the bell crank |2 1.5 establishes a contact in the electric circuit of the solenoid l5 and thus energizes the solenoid whereby link |1 will swing bell-crank lever l8 into a vertical position, as indicated by dotted lines in Fig. 6 and by full lines in Figs. 4 and 7. In this manner the arcuate head of lever l8 engages and pushes one of the pins 20 through gear I 9 so as to project beyond the web of the gear, and, as gear l3 rotates, the pin will prevent the arm 2|c of lever 2| from swinging into the position shown by ful lines in Fig. 3 and by dotted lines in Fig. 4, which it would otherwise do when roller 23 runs of! the high point of the cam 24. During the engagement of the pin I9 with the shoe 2|d of arm 2|c the suction in chamber 46b remains on full, whereby the leaf is carried along to the end of the suction conveyor 44 and deposited in the trough T as indicated by position of leaf lid in Fig. 2. As gear l9 continues to rotate, pin 20 will ride off the shoe 2|d of arm 2|c and will be pushed back through its bearing in the web of gear Is by the stationary cam l9a. If the next leaf passes under the detector roller without establishing contact in the solenoid circuit and energizing the solenoid |5, the pin 20 will remain at inoperative position and the suction will be cut off in chamber 46b so as to deposit the leaf on the transverse conveyor TC.

It should be noted that the plate 41 in suction chamber 46b is operated by cam 52, assisted by spring 51, and would therefore drop once for each revolution of cam 52,'were it not for the suction present in chamber 45b, which is not cut off when the detector roller sets the controlling mechanism into operation, as previously described. Thus, due to the greater degree of suction above the plate 41, the latter is held up against the lesser pressure of spring 51 by the pressure of the air sucked through the space below the plate 41.

During each revolution of drive shaft 25 the leaves advance the same distance on the conveyors l3 and 44 as they are advanced while passing through the stemming unit, and as gear l9 rotates one third of a revolution for each revolution of the drive shaft 25 and, in the embodiment illustrated, has three pins 20 for blocking the arm 2|c of the suction controlling lever 2|, it follows that during the advance of each leaf there would be an opportunity to prevent cutting off the suction in the chamber 4611 as each leaf is carried along by the suction conveyor 44 if the condition of the leaf would warrant it.

v The control of this feature therefore rests with the detector device, and its dependability is assured by. the provisions made for very close adjustments of the contact maker.

A diagram of the electrical circuits for operating the control mechanism is shown in Fig. 8 and will now be described.

. to the solenoid I5. Line I6 is directly connected to the solenoid l5 and a switch in the main I1 is controlled by a relay 8|. The current for energizing the relay 8! is tapped from. lines 16 and II by wires 82 and 83 respectively leading to the primary of a step-down transformer 84. One terminal of the secondary of the transformer is grounded at 85, and the other terminal is connected by. a wire 86 to the one end of the coil of the relay 8|. The other end of the coil on the relay is connected by wire 81 through a resistance 88 -to one terminal of the contact maker it of the control mechanism, the other terminal of the contact maker being grounded at 89.

The contact maker M is so adjusted that when a leaf with a heavy stem passes under roller ll, bell crank it will swing the contact maker M inwardly to close the circuit through the relay 8i, whereupon the switch an will be closed and the solenoid i5 will be energized. The energizing of the solenoid will cause its core to move and, through the various connections hereinbefore described prevent thecutting off of the sucv tion as already described.

While the invention has been described in conjunction with a stemming machine, it will be understood that it may be used with stemming and booking machines, or with tobacco working or handling mechanism.

What is claimed is:

1. In a tobacco stemming machine, the combination with a device for detecting unstemmed leaves, of mechanism controlled by said device for separating'the unstemmed leaves from the stemmed leaves.

2. In a tobacco stemming machine, the combination with a device for detecting unstemmed leaves, of mechanism controlled by said device for separating the unstemmed leaves from the stemmed leaves, said device including a traveling belt arranged to fgrward outspread tobacco leaves on its upper run, a bell crank, a detector roller mounted in one end of said bell crank to engage the leaves forwarded on said belt, a solehold, an electric circuit through said solenoid, a driven gear carrying a series of pins displaceable axially thereon, a lever linked to the core of said solenoid to displace one of said pins when the solenoid is energized, a relay adapted toopen and close said solenoid circuit, ,a circuit through said relay, and a pivoted contact maker arranged to be swung by said bell crank into position to close said, relay circuit when an unstemmed leaf is forwarded under said detector roller by said belt, whereby said solenoid is energizedand one of said pins is displaced axially of said gear.

3. In a tobacco stemming machine, the combination with a device for detecting unstemmed leaves, of mechanismcontrolled by said device for separating the unstemmed leaves from the stemmed leaves, said device including a traveling 'belt arranged to forward outspread tobacco leaves on its upper run, a bell crank, a detector roller mounted in one end of said bell crank to engage the leaves forwarded on said belt, a solenoid, an electric circuit through said solenoid, a driven gear carrying a series of pins displace,- able axially thereon, a lever linked to the core of said solenoid to displace one of said pins when the solenoid is energized, a relay adapted to open and close said solenoid circuit, a circuit through said relay, a pivoted contact maker arranged to be swung by said bell crank into position to close said relay circuit when an unstemmed leaf is forwarded under said detector roller by said belt, whereby said solenoid is energized and one of said pins is displaced axially of said gear, and 5 whereby the closing of the valve is prevented and the unstemmed leaf is carried beyond the position at which the stemmed leaves are deposited.

4. In a tobacco stemming machine, the combination with a device for detecting unstemmed 20 leaves, of mechanism controlled by said device for separating the unstemmed leaves from thestemmed leaves, said mechanism including a traveling belt arranged to forward outspread tobacco leaves on its upper run, a delivery apron, 15 suction means normally operating to remove the leaves from said belt and deposit them on said apron, and means controlled by said device for causing said suction means to carry and deposit the unstemmed leaves beyond said apron. 5. In a tobacco stemming machine, the combination with a device for detecting unstemmed leaves, .of mechanism controlled by said device for separating the unstemmed leaves from the stemmed leaves, said mechanism including a 35 traveling belt arranged to forward outspread tobacco leaves on its upper run, a delivery apron,- a suction conveyor operating to pick up the leaves from said belt,,and means for periodically cutting off the suction along a portion of said conveyor to 40 deposit the leaf adhering to said portion onto said.

apron, said device operating to incapacitate said leaves capable of depositing the leaves in either one of a plurality of groups, a detector co-acting 55 with said mechanism to detect defectively treated leaves, and means connected with said detector and controlling said mechanism to deposit said defectively treated leaves in a separate group from normally treated leaves. 60 8. A tobacco sorting device for treated tobacco leaves comprising suction mechanism for the leaves capable of depositing the leaves in either one of a plurality of groups, a detector co-acting with said mechanism to detect defectively 65 treated leaves, means connected with said detector and controlling said mechanism to deposit said defectively treated leaves in a separate group from ,normally treated leaves, said means including an electro magnetic device controlling 7 the operation of said mechanism, an electric circuit connected to said electro magnetic, device,

'and'a circuit maker and breaker operatedby said detector for making and breaking said circuit.

leaves comprising suction mechanism for the leaves capable of depositing the leaves in either one of a plurality of groups, a detector co-acting with said mechanism to detect defectively treated leaves, and means connected with said detector and controlling said mechanism to deposit said defectively treated leaves in a separate. group from normally treated leaves, said detector comprising a yieldable feeler engaging the leaves.

10. A tobacco sorting device comprising leaf handling means including a'moving' leaf support, a detector having a feeler yieldingly urged against said support movable in response to leaves passing between said feeler and support, and suction instrumentalities connected to said detector and said means to control the operation thereof in response to the action of said leaves on said feeler.

11. The combination with tobacco stemming mechanism, of detector means acting on the leaves passing through said mechanism to detect the presence of stem portions of a predetermined thickness, and suction sorting mechanism controlled by said detector.

12. The combination with tobacco stemming mechanism, of a moving support for forwarding the leaves, of a detector means having a feeler arranged to engage leaves on said support to detect the presence or absence of a stem portion of over a predetermined thickness, and suction sorting mechanism controlled by said detector.

13. The combination with tobacco stemming mechanism, of a moving support for forwarding the leaves, a'detector having a feeler arranged to engage leaves on said support to detect the presence or absence of a stem portion or over a predetermined thickness, and suction sorting mechanism controlled by said detector, said ieeler comprising a yieldable arm carrying a roller positioned to engage the leaves.

14. The combination with tobacco stemming mechanism delivering tobacco leaves endwise with their blades outspread, of means including a feeler extending'transversely across the mid portion of said endwise moving leaf for detecting the presence of a stem portion of over a'predetermined thickness.

15. The combination with mechanism for removing the stems of leaves from the blade portions thereof, of detector means coacting with said mechanism to detect the presence of stem I portions which said mechanism failed to remove.

portions which said mechanism failed to remove,

and suction sorting mechanism controlled by said detector means.

PETER MARTIN NEJEDLY. 

